


I'll take the Pain, Give me the Truth

by flowersforlukey



Series: Stone Cold [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Arzaylea is only mentioned, Blowjobs, Bottom Michael, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, M/M, Riding, Romance, Top Luke, don't worry she doesn't bite, or maybe she does idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 05:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6942529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersforlukey/pseuds/flowersforlukey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke fucks up again. He wouldn’t have minded if what he got back in return was Calum having to ban his very important hot showers that lasted more than an hour, because okay, fine. He gets that a lot. He would’ve deserved that so much because he’s just equally stupid as the person who “accidentally” got himself caught up in a publicity stunt. And yeah, that’s him. And Michael, the person he has heart-eyes for, is totally avoiding him because of it.</p><p>Prequel to “Me and My Heart, We’ll make it through”</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll take the Pain, Give me the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey I'm back with the prequel as I promised! Idk if you wanna read this first before the other part, but you probably should if you don't like unorganized stories. There's smut here but it's not very detailed (there's still smut tho)
> 
> I hope you like this though :)
> 
> Title is from Stone Cold by Demi Lovato.

Luke is an hour and a half late for lunch and it’s not even his fault. Or maybe it is. He doesn’t know nor does he care because all he could think about at the moment is how fucking _long_ the brunette beside him is taking to order anything edible from Applebee’s.

He’s literally a minute away from shoving himself past the girl and ordering for her instead when she grabs his hand and turns to him with those long-ass lashes and weird looking eyebrows.

“Do you think I should get the Sriracha Shrimp and pair it with the Artichoke dip? I heard it’s great but that the dip comes with spinach and I don’t eat spinach. Do you eat spinach?”

Luke groans, silently of course, because he doesn’t want to get bitched at again. And that’s how it happens. When he finally shoos her away and takes an Uber back to the hotel, he’s bouncing on his seat that he’s worried it might actually break.

“You’re late.” is the first thing Michael says when Luke emerges from the door. He’s sitting on the couch with feet rested on the coffee table and arms across his chest. Luke doesn’t doubt the fact that the older boy has clearly waited for him.

“I know,” Luke sighs and falls onto the couch beside Michael. “I’m sorry though.”

“It’s fine, would’ve starved to death than actually see you like this.” Michael says, looking at Luke’s exhausted form. But then he lets his eyes trail to the bag in Luke’s arms and sees the words _Baskin Robbins_ and it’s definitely not fine anymore.

“Okay, no.” Michael says, shaking his head. “Looks like lunch isn’t going to happen, Ashton! This little shit actually brought fucking _ice cream_ instead of take-out food!”

With that, Ashton emerges from the kitchen.

“Wow, so you get late for what, a day? And you didn’t have the balls to actually bring us some food because we happen to be starving? Okay, cool, man. Cool.”

Luke makes a displeased noise.

“God, chill.” Luke sits up places the plastic bag on top of the coffee table. “I’ll have Ashton order pizza for us later. For now, we should all like, chill or something.”

“Chill or something.” Ashton scoffs loudly. “What am I, your slave?”

Michael is looking at Luke. No, he’s actually observing him or some shit because Luke gets eleven times attractive when he’s tired and gets riled up and sassy all of a sudden. He doesn’t realize how long he’s been staring until Luke turns to him and flashes him a small smile as if he’s just caught him staring.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Michael grins.

“I brought you ice cream.” And he’s leaning closer and closer to the older boy until he grabs the ice cream tub on the coffee table. “I picked your favourite.”

“I can see that.” Michael takes the ice cream tub from Luke before he’s kissing the blond sweetly on his lips and smiling against them. Ashton chokes out a noise like he’s gagging or something but Michael actually feels bad so he pulls off and stares at the ice cream tub in front of him and Luke’s certain that there are actually hearts popping out of those green irises.

“Is this all for me?” Michael directs the question to Luke and the blond nods. “Shit, thanks Luke. Really.”

“What? Why—wow okay.” Ashton scoffs again, clearly unimpressed. “You show up late with actually no food with you except for ice cream and turn out to be giving that food to Michael and not me. Seriously man, I love you too.”

Michael laughs at the sarcasm in his tone.

“No really.” Ashton shakes his head. “Go into the kitchen and order the fucking pizza yourself. This is your mess so you’re supposed to do all the fixing.”

Luke sighs and turns to Michael with a soft “I’ll be back soon” before following Ashton into the kitchen.

Just when Luke’s about to grab his phone and call the nearest pizza parlour, Ashton is approaching him on the counter with a distressed look on his face. 

“Hey, what was that?” Ashton says, pointing to the back which Luke guesses to be the living room.

Luke turns to him. “What?”

“The kiss,” Ashton says, exasperated. “What the _fuck_ was that about?”

Luke stares at him, and when it hits him a second later he’s shaking his head disapprovingly because _no_ , he doesn’t want to talk about it right now. But Ashton seems to say otherwise so he uses his ego instead.

“Oh, so it’s not normal for me and Michael to kiss every now and then?” Luke asks, quirking an eyebrow. “I think your reaction is a bit too late, mate.”

“It’s not that and you know it.” Ashton hisses, walking around the counter and stopping in front of Luke. “I thought you told him already.”

Luke tightly clutches onto the phone in his hands. “I didn’t.”

“Luke—“

“Just don’t, okay?” Luke snaps, frustration growing out of him. Ashton is staring at him, observing how the taller blond reacts to the things he’s saying because if Ashton was honest, he hated talking about the whole management situation as much as Luke does. “I know what I’m bringing myself into, alright? I just don’t want Michael to get involved in this shit, so I don’t see why he should know.”

Ashton scoffs.

“Oh, so you’re just letting go of the fact that management’s already wanting you to get attached to her?” Ashton questions, voice taunting. Luke tugs on his hair before rubbing his hand over his face. “You’re not going to care that it’s just another way of them telling you that _oh hey Luke, you need to break up with Michael because you’re going to be with asparagus now.”_

“Okay, shut up.” Luke snaps again, because first of all, Ashton is actually right. It’s only been four days since Luke had to meet up with management because their plan with Luke having to start dating the brunette was ‘seemingly working’ and somehow the gods made it a good idea to actually have Luke date her for real and not just date her for the sake of publicity.

He wouldn’t have minded though, if only he wasn’t with Michael right now. They weren’t dating of course, but they were _something_ and that was enough for the whole band to agree on having to deal with their constant kissing behind closed doors without having to question.

But this happens. Luke gets a girlfriend because management told him to do so. It’s usually for publicity so none of them had to complain, not even Michael, but this time it’s different. Luke _has_ to date the girl for real, and the thing is, Michael still doesn’t know about it.

“This isn’t even any of your shit, okay?” Luke tells the older boy. “Let me handle this and _god,_ if it freaks you out so much, I might as well tell him when he’s ready.”

“You might as well be thankful while I’m putting up with your shit because he isn’t going to be ready for some news like that.” Ashton shakes his head at the other blond. “Tell him before I do.”

And with that, he walks out without another word, leaving Luke to stare at the numbers on his phone screen in silence.

Oh, Luke is so fucked.

 

* * *

 

The night is brisk and silent and Michael looks beautiful underneath the moonlight. He’s sitting next to Luke, head resting against the blond’s right shoulder as they laid back on the couch.

It’s this, one of those nights where they’re alone and cuddled up in each other’s space. It rarely happens though, they hardly ever cuddle anymore. Michael likes to think that it’s only because of their schedule and not because of Luke’s constant dates with the brunette girl. But this is okay, Luke thinks. It’s already enough; _this,_ arms wrapped around Michael and lips tingling with the feeling of Michael’s lips moving against his earlier that day.

Michael moves against him and Luke smiles. They never really had the time to do this again, whatever it is they’re doing, being with each other this close and lips having to find each other later so Luke appreciates whatever he’s getting.

“You’re tense.” Michael points out, when he takes Luke’s hand but the blond stiffens beside him. Luke decides to ignore the smaller boy and tightens his hold around Michael’s shoulders but he’s already sitting up and looking at Luke. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he nods, the answer not coming out as a lie because yeah, he’s alright. Or at least he is. He’s alone in the room with the smaller boy he loves cuddled in his arms and it’s _nice._ That’s probably considerable, right?

“You sure?” Michael pushes, only to make sure that he is. He’s leaning closer to the blond and Luke more than happily sighs when Michael starts rubbing his cheek comfortingly.

“Yeah,” he breathes, eyes boring into green ones.

Michael leans in and kisses him, and Luke’s hand automatically moves to cup Michael’s cheek, pulling him closer. It’s been so long, _this_ , being able to kiss Michael properly while they’re alone in a room on a night where everyone’s asleep and unable to interrupt them. He hasn’t kissed Michael in a long time so he pours out everything in that one kiss, lips pressing harder and tongues sliding against each other.

Michael pulls away because he’s running out of breath. Luke is running out of it as well but he’d rather have Michael kiss the life out of him until he’s dead but yeah that’s actually pretty stupid.

Luke spreads his legs wide enough for Michael to fit in between. Their lips waste no time finding each other and soon enough Luke’s hands are tangled in the older boy’s blond hair while Michael has his arms thrown around Luke’s shoulder for support.

Michael feels a pair of hands reach for the zipper of his jeans. He pulls away to give Luke a questioning look before he’s standing up and removing his jeans himself. They’re too tight, for Luke at least. It always takes them nearly a minute to slide them off their long-ass legs but he doesn’t find it much of a problem since it isn’t really the first time they did this.

Michael steps out from the jeans pooling around his ankles and pushes Luke back onto the armrest of the couch, falling on top of him in the process. They kiss again, slowly this time, arms caressing each other’s skin and it’s quite obvious that they aren’t going anywhere with this.

Michael shifts on top of him and sits up, straddling the blond while he looks down at him. His lips are red and swollen from the kissing and the mop of blond hair on top of his hair is scruffy but Luke still looks beautiful like this.

Michael’s hands move from the crumpled shirt hugging his chest down to the waistband of his jeans. His fingers grip the zipper, patiently waiting as he looks up and meets Luke’s hooded eyes with a faint, “can I?”

Luke nods, almost immediately because he’s growing impatient. His eyes flutter closed the moment he feels his zipper being pulled down but he opens them again, having enough time to grab Michael’s face and stare into his eyes for another silent confirmation. Finally, a long moan erupts from his throat when Michael yanks his boxers off and whips his dick out, half-hard and precome leaking from the tip as Michael strokes him slowly.

And it feels _good_ , so fucking good that it makes his eyes roll back in his head and loud moans escape his lips. Luke thinks he could come right there because he hasn’t been touched like this for weeks but then Michael’s speeding his hand that’s curled around the shaft and without any warning, he’s leaning down to lick the tip and Luke could _really_ come undone if Michael doesn’t pull off right away.

“Michael— _ohhh_ —shit, I’m gonna,” Luke manages to say in between moans, staring at the mop of hair visibly moving up and down his cock and pale hands stroking the base. Michael pulls off a second later and Luke catches the sight of him, lips obviously swollen and slick with saliva.

“How was the date?” Michael asks casually, _too casually_ , and the fact that he’s in the middle of giving Luke the nearly best blowjob ever while starting a random conversation about the date he had earlier definitely doesn’t help.

“Are you fucking kidding me— _mmmh_ _s-shit Michael,_ ” Luke doesn’t have the time to finish his sentence because Michael’s suddenly taking all of him in his mouth and the whimpering blond doesn’t exactly have the nerve to complain.

Michael pulls off again, slightly chuckling at the blond. He continues stroking him, careful to keep his rhythm smooth and even to keep Luke from coming.

“Can you please not stop blowing me?” Luke hisses and Michael smiles down at him. “The date was terrible as always, thank you. Now please get back to it, we’ll talk about that later.”

“C’mon Luke, I need some details about how it went!”

“Details… are you shitting me? _Fuck_.” Michael drags his lips over the shaft and rests them above the tip, sucking harshly, making Luke moan louder this time. Luke finds his hands on Michael’s hair, tugging at them and forcing the older boy to pull off. “Fucking hell, Mike.”

“Details or I won’t let you finish.”

“Shit,” Luke swears when Michael shifts and makes himself comfortable between Luke’s legs, hands moving up and down Luke’s cock in a slow pace and lips twitching to a smirk which causes Luke to groan out loud. “Okay, um. We went out to have lunch.”

“Where?”

“Just at Applebee’s,” Luke answers, hands reaching out to brush Michael’s hair from his face. “Apparently, she was vegan, or something like that. I don’t know. She kind of had a hard time choosing something edible from the menu but somehow got herself some spinach I ended up eating.”

Michael chuckles at that, clearly amused. “I wouldn’t treat you like that.”

“Yeah sure,” Luke laughs breathily, eyes somehow sliding shut when Michael moves his thumb across the tip. “You’re only going to shove pizzas down my throat every single day until I’m dead.”

“Well at least pizza’s a lot better than spinach.”

“Of course it is.” Moaning, Luke tugs on Michael’s hair, forcing him to his cock. “Mmh, suck me off, Mikey.”

Michael obeys, sitting up on his knees to hover Luke’s member, thick lips wrapping around his cock and tongue pressed flat onto the underside. Luke moans from the warmth of Michael’s mouth but chokes on his breath when Michael starts bobbing his head in a quick rhythm.

Michael slows down and does something with his tongue that makes Luke cry out with how good it feels. He pulls off and mouths the shaft as he moves down toward the base, tracing the veins protruding from the skin before he’s moving up and sucking the tip. Precome starts leaking again and Michael sucks to taste it all.

“W-why were you curious about our date anyway?” Luke asks, when he finds his voice as he struggles to keep himself from coming. He feels his breathing even out when Michael pulls away and strokes him.

“Just missed you, is all,” Michael mumbles, suddenly looking shy as he speaks. “I mean, we haven’t been spending a lot of time together lately. Tour’s finished and you’re busy with her. I just. I don’t know.”

“Is that why you’re sucking my dick?” Luke asks, just to lighten the mood. If he wants to talk about how Michael feels whenever he’s going out with the weird-looking brunette, he’s gonna have to do that later.

“Maybe,” Michael says, quickening his pace around Luke’s cock. “But it’s more than that, I promise.”

Luke hums in response, already losing himself in the pleasure. “For the record, I missed you too. It’s been so long, _fuck_ , I need you so much baby.”

“You do?” Michael asks, putting up his very cocky act. He flicks his wrist the way he knows Luke likes and then leaning down to suck the tip again. “You gonna come for me, Luke?”

“Shit Michael, _yes,_ ” Luke gasps, followed by a deep moan that encourages Michael to quicken his movements. And then it’s there, the warm feeling inside his abdomen where his muscles tighten and his dick gets harder if that was possible. Michael’s mouth remains on his cock, lips still sucking and the sensation enough to bring Luke to the edge.

He comes with a loud cry and Michael manages to swallow it all. He’s panting heavily when a string of _ah ah ah_ noises escapes his lips like a mantra, and his stomach feels slick with come as Michael moves to lie on top of him, reaching for Luke and smashing their lips together.

Luke tastes himself in Michael’s mouth and Michael more than happily allows him. He’s moaning against Michael’s lips when their tongues meet and they’re both tasting Luke. It’s hot and it makes them both gasp out with how good everything feels. Then again, they haven’t done this in weeks so the situation’s only fair.

“I wanna ask you out tomorrow,” Luke says, when it’s silent enough and they’re both down from their high. He feels Michael smile against his neck and looks down to find out that he’s already staring up at him.

“Why so sudden?”

Luke shrugs and places his hand on Michael’s cheek, rubbing it comfortingly, just like what the older boy had done to him earlier. “I want to make it up to you.”

Michael nods, smile stretching wider as hope laces his tone. “Just like old times?”

Luke nods, feeling his insides go warm as he returns the smile and places a kiss to Michael’s forehead. “Just like old times.”

“Okay Hemmings.”

 

* * *

 

Surprisingly, Michael insisted on having their lunch at Applebee’s the next day in attempt to make fun of Luke, but Luke was very quick to refuse seeing as he was the one who asked Michael out on the first place so he was technically in charge of their date setting.

He also didn’t want to go to the place he spent with the brunette. He couldn’t even be bothered to mention her.

“You know, you should’ve really taken me to Applebee’s so that I could try their very-infamous spinach you had to eat yesterday,” Michael muses only half-jokingly as he takes a bite of his double cheese pizza.

“Leave then,” Luke grunts, kicking Michael’s foot under the table which results in the older boy heaving out a painful wince. “Asshole.”

A cheeky grin splits into Michael’s face as he stares incredulously at his best friend. “You’re the one who’s failing at footsie right now and I’m the asshole? Seriously Luke.”

“Hey, I wasn’t attempting footsie with you!”

Michael laughs at Luke’s defensive tone. “Sure you’re not. So you weren’t attempting when you got me off inside the shower this morning?

Luke stares at his feet when he feels colour heating up his cheeks in that moment. “Shut up, Mike. You know I used to do that before. You’re such an assshole.”

Michael grins, “I wasn’t such an asshole last night, wasn’t I?”

Luke looks up shyly from where hseee was staring at the ground. A fond grin makes its way to his face when last night’s memories come flashing in his head.

“I meant what I said last night, you know,” Michael starts, gulping down half of his coke. Luke raises his eyebrow in confusion. “That I missed you.”

“You thought I didn’t?” Luke questions.

“I thought you wouldn’t have time for me anymore.” Michael picks at the bracelets hugging his wrist. “We haven’t been together in weeks, Luke. I don’t know.”

As much as Luke wants to disagree and say that they’d always have time if it wasn’t for the thing that’s going around with the band and management, Michael’s right. They haven’t been dealing with each other as much as they did before, and it isn’t their fault. Tour’s just finished and they’re already back in LA for writing.

Another thing that’s causing Luke’s lack of time with the older boy is his beard. Yes, the one with the weird-looking eyebrows and wears gym clothes while walking around LA. And it isn’t Luke’s fault as well. He wishes that it was though, so he wouldn’t have to witness Michael sleeping alone at night and settle in getting mad at Luke instead. Luke probably would have felt a lot less guilty.

The next problem he’s about to deal with is Michael.

He’s isn’t really the problem though, it’s just. It happens sometimes when Luke obviously just came back from The Nice Guy with the girl he was with and Michael has to watch him come home with this intoxicating scent while his phone is in his hands, home screen replaced with some twitter picture of her and Luke recently taken by the paps.

Luke knows all of this, sees through Michael like clear glass and he doesn’t believe he’s just let it slide. This inner… _rage_ or something that Luke isn’t prepared to deal with right now.

“I’m not going to leave you, Mike.” Luke tells him, suddenly sounding serious.

“You’re not?” Michael looks up and when he does, there’s a frown ghosting over his lips. “I think management says otherwise.”

“Doesn’t mean I want to,” Luke tries. Michael doesn’t fall for it for a second. It’s loud and clear between the silence. _I might have to_ is at the tip of his tongue and Luke wishes he couldn’t hear it as well.

Luke sighs and looks around the place as if Calum would somehow show up out of nowhere to help him get his shit together.

“Look,” he tries again. “She’s just someone I hang out with whenever we’re in LA. Other than that, she’s nothing else. I don’t know. We talk and hold hands sometimes. But when we’re in a different place and she isn’t there, I have you. And I only need you.”

For a moment, it’s just silence. Michael’s looking at Luke and searching his face for a sign that he’s just joking or something but he finds none.

Everything he finds hilarious on Luke’s face is replaced with seriousness and Michael wishes, no scratch that, he _prays_ that he’ll somehow end up believing everything Luke is telling him no matter how misleading the situation sounds.

“Is there any way you could get rid of her?” Michael questions, almost sounding desperate with the way he says it.

“It’s management, Mikey…” Luke trails off, suddenly being filled with guilt. “I don’t think—“

“It’s fine,” Michael smiles, and it’s a sad one. Luke has never felt his shoulders falter so quickly. “Really, it is.”

 _No it’s not,_ Luke wants to scream.

“Can I give you something?” he asks instead, feeling the need to change the topic.

Michael nods, “what is it?”

Luke reaches into his pocket, pulling out the chain he hasn’t worn in years. Michael watches his every move and feels his eyes land onto the necklace in Luke’s hand.

“This.” He reaches across the table and places the necklace on Michael’s right hand. He doesn’t risk going around the table and making a scene of putting the accessory on Michael in case some paps were around. “It’s one of necklaces I have with me.”

“You’ve got tons?” Michael grins, hanging it around his neck.

“Only three, you idiot,” Luke shakes his head, chuckling. “I kept them around when we were still stuck in Australia.”

“I see,” Michael says, eyes dropping to the small bronze key dangling from the chain. “This is really pretty. Is this mine for now?”

“Yeah,” Luke nods, staring at the boy in front of him. With the quick transition of his eyes from the faint smile playing across Michael’s lips to the sight of his eyes crinkling in fond, he suddenly sees his whole world right before him.

“You know how much I love you, right?” Luke asks, and he does it because he wants Michael to know.

Michael smiles, and it’s genuine this time. “Yeah.”

“Then you don’t have to doubt anything. I love you, and that’s that.” Luke’s moving in his seat, standing up and motioning Michael to move as well. “Now come on, I’m taking us to the movies.”

 

* * *

 

Luke doesn’t know whether people are too nice to up straight and confront his ass or they just don’t bother to care about him at all. Or who he’s with. Because as far as he knows, that’s the one thing paps are supposed to be doing; barging into his personal life and spilling every possible detail they can sell.

That’s not what happens though. When they exit the cinema, they’re immediately greeted by the sight of an empty ground floor with no sign of paps at all.

There isn’t even a throng of screaming girls waiting outside to mob them. Luke thinks he could cry of relief and happiness.

Michael stays by his side when they walk back to the hotel. It’s nearing 11 pm and both of them just didn’t have the heart to call their security and pick them up from the cinema when they’re all probably tucked underneath the comforter in their hotel room right now.

Apparently, Michael refused to go to the cinema after finishing their lunch and instead settled for driving around the places he always wanted to visit ever since they arrived LA. Luke again was very quick to state that he was the one who’s supposed to make the plans for their date and not the older boy.

( _“I’m the one who asked you out, you ass. You’re not the one in-charge here.” “Rude, but also very cute.” “Shut up, Mike.”_ )

It’s actually really silent and dark (except for the many cars driving along the curb every once in a while) and Luke would probably shit his pants if Michael wasn’t by his side. Fortunately, he doesn’t, but he’s pretty sure he’s definitely going to shit his pants this time because Michael’s suddenly holding his hand.

Of course it isn’t the hand of the older boy that’s making Luke feel like this. They’ve held hands before, too many times to count.

It’s the feeling of thrill that makes him lose his breath for a moment. Because he’s here, right outside of his private premises, very much visible to the public’s eye, and he’s holding Michael’s hand.

He feels like he’s only able to do this inside their hotel rooms where they’re alone, but he’s suddenly not in his hotel room anymore because the brisk air that sweeps against them is enough to bring him back to reality.

What scares him, is the realization that he loves the feeling. He loves the way how he’s holding Michael’s hand outside for everyone to see, loves how he doesn’t have to worry about getting caught of going out on a night with his own band mate.

What also scares him though, is the thought that he may not be able to do this again other than tonight. They’re not exactly lucky enough to have gone out on more nights with zero paparazzi to chase after them.

And what scares him even more, is how much he wants that, no matter how much Ashton would have to run him over with his car and tell him that it wouldn’t be possible even if he tried.

He turns his head to the side to find Michael looking completely unaffected of the fact that they’re holding hands in public right now, like he wouldn’t give a single shit if someone with a camera suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snapped more than fifty pictures of them for tabloids to see.

Luke’s glad that they’re just holding hands though. He doesn’t think he could handle shitting his pants twice if Michael pulled him in for a kiss in the middle of the sidewalk.

They stop in front of Michael’s door when they get to the hotel. They’re taking separate rooms for themselves this time, and although Michael likes the idea of lazing around in his room by himself and write his one of the many emo songs that could probably sell millions, he isn’t exactly willing to eavesdrop on Luke’s one-sided conversations with the girl on such hours of the night that he and Michael would rather spend on cuddling.

“I understand, you know,” Michael tells him, still sounding unsure. “About your situation. Me and you and what’s-her-name.”

“Calum fancies calling her asparagus,” Luke chuckles awkwardly, and surprises himself with the giggle that bubbles out from Michael’s throat.

“Does that mean Ashton has to start calling me Michaelangelo?”

“I think Michaelangelo is awesome,” Luke grins. “I think you’re awesome, Michael. So is your dick.”

“Yeah yeah, you love me,” Michael laughs, a hand flying to his mouth because he realizes that he did it loudly. Suddenly nothing is really funny anymore and the air between then was just as quick to change.

“You’re not um… you’re not going to have feelings for her, right?”

Luke frowns. “Um, I don’t think so. You’re not exactly that easy to get rid of.”

“Thanks,” and Michael seems to regret saying that because he doesn’t exactly know what he’s thanking the blond for. Maybe he’s thanking Luke for the fact that he’s not willing to give up on Michael just yet. “You should go now. Thanks for the sucky-ass date.”

“Quit insulting me,” Luke says. “Wait, you’re not going to let me in?”

“Of course not,” Michael scoffs, meaning to sound it off as a joke. “We have a radio show tomorrow. None of us will be getting any sleep if you decide to stay in there.”

Luke starts laughing, “ooh what would we be doing?”

“Dork,” Michael laughs as well, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Luke’s cheek. “Also, thanks for the necklace. And goodnight. I need to sleep.”

“Mikeeey.”

“Fuck. Off. Lukey.”

Michael quickly steps into his room, slightly grinning to himself as he closes the door. He realizes that he’s so stupid to even think that Luke would be able to let go of something like this. He also realizes that he could still feel Luke’s presence outside the door and something unhinges inside him.

Michael pushes on the doorknob, quickly pulling Luke by the collar of his shirt. “Oh, who am I kidding? C’mere you giant.”

Luke leads the way into Michael’s room, lips smashed together, one foot quickly pushing the door shut behind him. Michael’s kissing him like it’s the only thing that keeps him breathing as his tongue starts pushing past Luke’s lips before Luke himself could even choke in another breath.

Luke doesn’t really mind though, when it’s like this and Michael’s taking charge. He doesn’t even remember the last time that Michael had pushed him to a wall and fucked him right there. That felt like decades ago and he was craving to be able to feel that level of roughness again.

Although he wants Michael to fuck him hard and senseless into the next week, Luke’s thinking of having it different tonight. He wants be in-charge, wants to take it slow on the older boy, looking back on how loud his moans erupted through the walls when he was getting fucked by the blond, how Luke’s cock seemed to hit all the right places that he himself never thought would feel so goddamn amazing.

So that’s what he’s going to do.

Luke shoves Michael up the nearest wall without detaching their lips. It might sound a little childish but it’s something that Luke has learned to do and gotten better at over the past few months of doing it; being able to do these things to Michael without having to separate themselves physically. Michael sometimes laughs at him about it, resulting in a massive comeback of foreplay Luke couldn’t even be bothered to finish.

Michael bites onto Luke’s bottom lip and bucks into his hips. He’s half hard already, needy and responsive all for Luke to have. It makes him want show the older boy that he’s eager as well, so he grinds onto Michael’s hips, cocks aligning under the thick fabric of their jeans as he rocks them back and forth.

“Fuck,” Michael moans, pulling away to place his head on Luke’s shoulder. Luke notices, how easy it is for Michael fall apart right there in front of him to see.

Luke reaches under Michael’s thigh and grabs one of his legs to wrap around his waist, causing him to rut harder and deeper against the older boy.

Michael cries with how good it feels, lips searching for Luke’s to silence his own moans and hands itching to rip all of the fabrics separating their skin. And it’s all so fast like minutes turning to seconds because he has hands fumbling for Luke’s zipper since the blond himself had used both of his hands to hold Michael against the wall.

“I want to ride you,” Michael moans, followed by a deep grunt when Luke starts ripping Michael’s jeans off. It’s a lot harder when it’s done though. He’s got his dick pressed against another dick and he wants nothing more than to stay like that forever but he also thinks that having that dick skin-to-skin was probably much better.

“Shit Michael, get these off,” Luke instructs, finally pulling away and leaving Michael to undress himself.

He watches as more and more of that pale skin appears without the denim, and Luke’s dick starts twitching inside his boxers because why the fuck is he still wearing them. He slides them off his legs in a quick second and pulls Michael to the bed with him, seeing as how they were both completely clothes-free except for the hearts they wear on their sleeves.

They get back to kissing eventually, because that’s the only thing both of them are craving to do. Luke leans against the headboard and spreads both of his legs, the heels of his feet pressed flat against the mattress.

Michael sits on top of him, straddling the blond. He wants this as much as Luke does and there’s this silent agreement in the air that they’re definitely going to skip the prepping.

It’s much better for them anyway, probably not as much for Michael, but it’s good. The pain from the wide stretch comes first before he could even suppress a moan out of pleasure. Both of his eyes would prickle with tears and Luke would be quick to kiss him in attempt to stop the pain.

It still burns though, when Michael lifts his hips and sinks down on Luke’s cock, causing them both to let out strangled moans. Michael burrows his face into Luke’s neck as he feels hands grip on his hips tightly, guiding him to shift on just the right angle until the tip of his cock brushes against his spot.

“Babe,” Luke whispers, when Michael doesn’t move an inch for another minute.

“What?”

Luke grunts underneath Michael’s body. “You gotta move.“

“It hurts,” Michael winces as he shifts into a sitting position, taking a couple of deep breaths. “Hold on.”

“No, you don’t have to—“ Luke’s sentence was cut short when Michael snaps his hips up and falls back down again, feeling Luke’s cock bury itself inside him. It works, they’re both panting now because it feels good, but the pain is still there.

They fall into an easy rhythm moving against each other like fluid as both of them struggle to emit moans between their ragged breaths. Luke starts leaving marks on the pale of Michael’s neck despite the protests he hears the older boy tell him. He knows he shouldn’t, but it’s really hard to resist when his cock slides easily in Michael’s entrance as he repeats Luke’s name like a mantra.

Michael speeds up his movements and it makes Luke’s head go hazy for a second before he’s suddenly pressing Michael’s hips down on his own, forcing him to stop.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, a wave of concern washing over his features.

“Nothing,” Luke starts shaking his head. “Let’s take it slow… I want this to last.”

Michael’s nodding at him before he’s smashing their lips together again. Just like that, it’s like a switch has been flicked because the air around them turns warm in an instant. Michael’s lips are soft and gentle and his hips move with such ease. Luke presses their bodies closer, taking Michael with him and causing them to groan out loud with how good the new angle feels.

When Michael comes, Luke holds him tight in his arms, whispering a thousand silent _I love you’s_ into his skin as he moans Luke’s name into the darkness of his room. Michael’s fingernails dig into Luke’s skin, marking his territory, and tattooing his name across his heart.

Michael falls pliant into Luke’s arms when it’s all over. He’s gone and knocked out the moment his head falls on top of Luke’s chest, eyes squeezed tightly and face relaxed. Luke feels mesmerized with how peaceful Michael looks when he’s sleeping.

It’s the first time that Luke doesn’t sleep after being with Michael. Instead, he lies awake, watching him, and whispering words that came piecing through his heart.

“I love you… _forever._ ”

 

* * *

 

“What’s gotten into your ass?” Michael questions, happily chewing on his sandwich. There’s a dopey smile on his face as he swivels around on the stool and Ashton hates it. Maybe that’s the reason he’s in a shit mood this morning.

“What’s gotten into _your_ ass?” Ashton shoots back.

Michael grins widely. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“Hey babe,” just on time, Luke walks in, wearing a pair of his tight jeans and a white shirt that’s definitely not his. He moves to where Michael was sitting and places a kiss to his cheek, soon realizing that it wasn’t just the two of them in the room when he meets Ashton’s eye.

“Uh, hey Ashton.”

A frying fan drops to the ground. Everyone’s eyes flash to Ashton because the noise was loud and sharp and he’s the only one who could’ve possibly done that.

“ _Babe,_ ” Ashton says, emphasizing the word. “What, did you two fuck last night or?”

Luke shakes his head dismissively. “It’s none of your business.”

Michael kisses him, right in front of his older band mate, just like what he did two days ago when Luke got late for lunch. This time, however, Ashton doesn’t leave the room or shoot a snarky remark. Instead, he stays quiet, choosing not to invade their privacy.

“Where’s Calum?” Michael asks when they break apart.

“Probably still asleep,” Luke shrugs, moving toward the door. “Listen, I have to go run some errands before the radio show. I’ll be back soon, I promise!”

Michael sighs as he watches the blond slip out of the room. Ashton moves inside the kitchen, using the pan that he had dropped to fry some eggs that hopefully wouldn’t burn.

“What the fuck is your problem?”

Ashton looks up from the stove, tensing but completely ignoring Michael’s comment. “Did he really not tell you anything?”

Michael’s obviously confused now. “What?”

“Did he not tell you anything?” Ashton repeats, louder this time. “Something you should know? Something he definitely shouldn’t keep from you?”

“Ashton,” he says, and Michael’s shoulders suddenly slump because is Luke really hiding something from him? If he did (which he definitely couldn’t do because he’s shit at lying), he would’ve ended up telling Michael. But he didn’t. He doesn’t know what it’s all about in all honesty.

Ashton must’ve sensed the war going inside Michael’s head because he’s putting the pan down and walking to where Michael was seated.

The older boy sighs, gesturing to his room. Michael doesn’t look at him as he stands. “Come on, follow me.”

When they walk into the room, Ashton spills. Michael listens to his every word, face blank and body slumped against the wall he was leaning on. He doesn’t say a single word throughout Ashton’s explanation, only aiming for calm when his nerves were already burning in what, anger? Disappointment? Jealousy?

He’s waiting for the _both of you need to stop this, Mikey_ but it doesn’t come. It floats into the air instead where Michael hears it perfectly.

Luke starts to run.

He’s running while he loses his breath every second, like it’s being pushed back to his throat where he can’t let it out. He’s also come to a conclusion that he’s definitely, absolutely, undoubtedly very stupid.

Fuck, why didn’t he remember? Ashton was right there, and Michael was sitting on the stool like an easy target.

Ashton would’ve found the chance to tell him, and Luke is sure as hell not prepared for that.

When Luke swings the door open, it’s too late. Michael is leaning on the door with his eyes dropped to the floor when he looks up and sees Luke. Ashton is standing right in front of him, like he had cornered Michael to a wall and told him all the things Luke himself couldn’t.

“Michael.”

Ashton turns his head, following the source of sound. He’s greeted by the sight of Luke panting right next to the door, eyes locked with the person he’s talked to for the past ten minutes.

“Luke—“

Michael pushes past the blonde, ignoring any of Ashton’s protests. He stops in front of Luke, who’s standing so helplessly like he could fall to his knees any second now and beg Michael to forgive his sorry ass that he never told him in the first place.

It’s different though.

“I know I’ve bottomed for the past few months, but I really am far too gone in your ass, am I, Luke?”

Luke shakes his head, frowning at Michael’s words. He can tell Michael’s on the verge of losing his shit.

“Answer me!”

“No!” Luke rushes out, feeling tears pool at the back of his eyes.

Luke is weak. Michael is weaker.

As if the bricks of the dam just came tumbling down, he starts crying. As he turns away from Luke but not enough to expose his vulnerability the tears in his eyes begin to fall and sobs punched through, ripping through his bones and muscles and heart.

He cries loudly, enough for everyone in the room to notice the rawness to it. Luke stares at the ground as Michael falls apart in front of him, trying to hold it in but failing as the pain came out like an uproar from his throat like a silent scream.

Michael wanted so badly to scream. So he does.

“Was I not good enough for you?” he cries, arms flying wildly. “Did I not take you out on dates like you wanted? Did I not kiss you like I meant every single time I did it? Huh? I fucking loved you, Luke and you know it!”

Silent tears are rolling down Luke’s cheeks, his face red and looking devastated.

“It’s so fucking stupid, isn’t it? Three years I’ve been on my toes around you, and when you actually said you felt the same, I just wanted you for myself. I wanted to take you out on dates and hold your hand in public and kiss you whenever the hell I wanted. I wanted that in the first fucking place, Luke.” Michael says, voice wet and cracked. “But then _she_ comes into the fucking picture and does that instead of me! She gets to go out with you and hold your fucking hand and kiss you for a picture for everyone to see! I get that but what about me? What about me? I was here first, Luke!”

“What do you want me to do, huh?” Luke yells, clearly having enough of it. “No, what do you want? You want me to go fuck management and this stupid thing they’re making me do? You want me to let this band fall apart? Go break up with her then!”

“That’s not the point, you asshole!” he screams. Ashton visibly flinches at the back.

Luke is _so_ not ready.

“Then what is?”

“The point is that you made me believe that we actually have a way out of this!” Michael cries, beads of tears flowing without a sign of stopping. “You made me think that you had some sort of back-up plan to get back to me whenever you’re stuck with her. You made me think that you’d still end up being with me but you fucking lied! You took me out on a date that silently told me that things would be alright. You fucked me senseless and that was enough for me to think that—“

Michael cut himself off with a silent gasp.

“Is that the reason why you slept with me?” he whispers unsurely, like he was definitely dreading the answer. “Because you knew that it was going to be our last?”

Luke was quick to shake his head. “No, that’s not—“

“Shut up!” Michael’s hands fly to his eyes, digging into them, like it would somehow stop the tears from falling. “Fucking hell, Luke. Fucking hell!”

“Michael—“

“Forever, huh?” Michael asks, Luke immediately remembering the words he had said to Michael’s post-orgasm state on the night before. It feels like a kick to the gut when Michael laughs humourlessly like it was some kind of joke. “Bullshit!”

Michael storms out of the room, soft sobs echoing through the wall as well as the loud stomps of his feet. Luke falls to the ground with a terribly aching heart, like it had been ripped to pieces he had no clue of fixing.

Ashton rushes to his side, and there’s no denying he had seen everything that happened between the two. “Are you okay?”

It’s such a typical thing to say in situations like these, but Luke doesn’t think there’s anything else to say right now because he doesn’t even know the answer to the question itself.

He pushes himself into Ashton’s neck, feeling a pair of arms snake around his waist like a letter to an envelope. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know he was with you last night.”

“You didn’t know.” Luke repeats, not exactly saying that it’s okay because it isn’t.

Just in time, Calum bursts into the room with panic written all over his face. “What happened?”

“Michael,” is all Ashton says.

Calum nods even though he obviously didn’t understand and walked right through the door straight into Michael’s room.

Luke spends the whole afternoon in his room watching his life crumble in his fingertips.

 

* * *

 

It’s eight in the evening when Luke finally decides to come of his room in search for the older boy. Ashton has poked his head through Luke’s door earlier, letting him know that Michael was alone in the kitchen in case he would like to talk to him about what happened.

He finds him alone in the kitchen, sat on the same stool he had been sitting on earlier, with a bowl of something which looks like rice.

His back is facing Luke so he doesn’t really notice the blond. He also doesn’t notice when Luke starts taking steps toward him.

“Calum?” Michael turns around, seeming to have noticed the creaking sounds Luke’s shoes were making, and face quickly falling when he realizes that it wasn’t the person who he had expected.

“Oh.”

“Michael,” Luke rushes out, taking a step forward.

“Don’t.” A hand grips his wrist, stopping him from doing anything else. Luke looks up to see Calum staring at him as if to say _I’ll kick your ass if you do anything._

“I just want to talk.”

“I don’t.” Michael grits his teeth, forcing himself to stand up but nearly tripping on his feet because he’s visibly limping, still sore from last night’s events that might have made his legs feel like jelly.

Ashton appears from the back and rushes into the kitchen, helping Michael out and leading their way to Michael’s room.

Calum’s still holding his wrist and Luke wishes he would finally stop.

“Cal, let me go. I just want to talk.”

“He doesn’t,” Calum waves him off, grip loosening around Luke’s wrist. “Maybe later.”

And it does happen, only a couple of minutes before the clock struck twelve. Luke realizes he had grown a third pair of balls when he successfully walked into Michael’s room without chickening out.

Michael’s stare is harsh and Luke silently thanks the gods above him that he wasn’t receiving the end of it. The room is filled with thick silence as Luke drops to the spot on the mattress, right next to Michael.

Luke doesn’t know what to say. The words are piling in his throat yet he refuses to let them out because it’s useless. Michael already knows, and any explaining that will come from Luke will be a waste of time. Luke wonders if Michael had figured some things by himself, if he finished putting two and two together and allowed his mind to suck up the whole information he just got.

“I’m sorry,” is what he says instead, figuring it would be better if he went on bluntly.

Luke steals a glance at the boy beside him, finding his very own necklace hanging loosely around his pale neck that’s been abused with purple bruises.

“I know,” Michael says, voice sounding sincere as he talks. “You’re doing this for the band. Doesn’t matter if means breaking something as big as this.”

“I’m sorry,” Luke repeats, not sure of what to say.

No, he shouldn’t be apologizing. It makes him seem weak. He should be fighting, but he doesn’t know how.

“We should stop this.”

Luke swallows hard. “What?”

“You should go, I should let you go,” Michael says, turning his head to look at the blond. “You’re supposed to be with her now. I don’t see the point of you having to stay.”

“I—“ Luke finds himself stuttering. “I can’t just leave you, Michael.”

“Yes you can, okay?” Michael argues. “You can, you should. I don’t know. Just leave because it’s something you really have to do.”

“Michael, I won’t.” Luke says, but he isn't sure if he means it.

He shakes his head, turning away from the blond and saying in a broken whisper, “You will.”

Luke is _so_ weak.

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> ^^ Idk how I was supposed to end that tbh. Anyway, i'm probably going to write the third part next, if that's okay with you guys. I'm excited to put this series to an awesome end! :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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